Quantified self toolbox
Measuring different health metrics forms an important part of managing my health. It tells me what works and what doesn’t in terms of the different lifestyle changes I’m making. It allows me to correlate how I’m feeling subjectively with some more objective measurements. While for some, closely tracking their biometrics might be a total overkill, for me it acts as a great motivator. Nothing is more thrilling than maintaining a green streak! Here are some of my tools.
Biometrics
Abbot Freestyle 2 CGM - This one is a godsent for me as a diabetic and has been a fantastic learning tool to understand how different factors affect my condition. The immediate feedback also acts as my primary motivator for sticking to my plan. I use CGM with LibreLink app on my phone. While I also have Freestyle Libre 2 reader (no longer available from Abbot’s webpage), I mainly use it as a glucometer or ketone meter with their Optium test strips. I like how this allows me to upload test data and see this alongside CGM on LibreView.
Dexcom ONE+ - About to tral Dexcom ONE+ alongside Libre 2 and Libre 2 Plus to compare features, reliability and precision. Quarterly subscription offers a good discount vs Libre 2 product and might be worth hassle around creating custome reportinbg around historical data.
Fitbit Sense 2 Fitness Tracker - Recently (May 2024) upgraded from Sense to Sense 2 as local Costco were selling off their last few stock items at a price that was too difficult to say no to. Enjoying my 6 months free Premium membership. This one probably provides the most metrics in one device - activity levels, heart rate metrics, skin temperature, sleep, and stress score.
Fitbit Aria 2 Scales- weight and body fat composition alongside other fitness metrics on Fitbit app. Seems like this model is no longer available, only a younger and less fully featured sibling, Fitbit Aria Air. I like to see at least limited body composition data, so will probably consider other brands like Withings or Omron when I need to replace.
Omron X7 Smart - A fancy blood pressure meter. I like how data gets uploaded and stored in the Omron Connect app. Another app to manage, and it tries to sell you premium subscription now and then, but at least I don’t have to write stuff down. And included visuals give you the latest trends at a glance.
Acetrack - Portable ketone breathalyser. Tracks acetone levels in your breath which are indicative of your level of ketosis. New ’toy’ - June 2024.
Nutrition
Cronometer - Over the years, I have been through a lot of different food tracking apps but have settled on this one as it ticks all of my boxes. Admittedly, I pay for Gold membership so that it is all, not just most boxes. I like how I can set up custom meal-times, create quite elaborate macronutrient targets, set up my fasting schedule, and create custom biometrics to track pretty much everything that’s not recorded anywhere else. It integrates with Fitbit to give me daily activity stats at a glance. And while I’d love to see more flexibility with extracting collected data, I can download it easily enough.
Salter kitchen scales - As basic as it gets, essential for tracking food intake.
ASDA Measuring spoons - another food measuring essential.
General wellbeing
NHS App - Linked to my GP practice and gives me access to appointments, test results, consultation notes, etc. I particularly like the ability to see and compare historical test results easily. There are similar apps, but the NHS app stands out because it doesn’t sell me anything.
Pure Gym Membership + App - Pay as you go gym membership (June 2024). Looking to go beyond my daily walks and introduce some resistance training as a part of my daily exercise regiment. Hoping this will give the boost getting started and figure out what weight equipment I might want to acquire for home. App provides handy tracking of gym attendance + allows me to track my exercise programme.
A notebook and a pen - Journaling, noting down useful things, etc. I write and never read what I’ve written. If nothing else, it has a very therapeutic effect and allows me to better process my thoughts. I like my note-making paraphernalia and recently picked up a large Paperchase Agenzio ruled notebook and Pilot V5 fine liners from the local Tesco. When not using pen and paper, I really like Obsidian.md for managing digital information across my devices.
What tools do you have in your toolbox?
